Away & Back
by LuckyTurtle
Summary: Amu lived in the same town as the guardians, Utau, and Ikuto for seven years, moved away, and came back much different than before. She now has five charas, works for Easter, and sings. Amuto, Rimahiko, NagixYaya, SanjoxNikaido, Kutau, Tadase...no one?
1. Prologue

**Okay…so. I'm trying for another story. Don't know how it's going to go :)**

**I have the entire story planned out, but I don't know if I'll finish it or not. I'm just the type to kind of do things halfway, and not finish. I'm working on getting better in that area :)**

**The prologue is supposed to be a little choppy with the whole sentence thing. Like, lots of sentences that aren't really full sentences (fragments), because it's more of her "thoughts" kind of. I'm sure you'll get it when you read it.**

**When I get to the chapters, I'll do more details and stuff :)**

**Wow. Lots of smiley faces today… :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara(!).**

**Prologue – Amu's POV**

When I was little, I had lots of friends.

You know how in every class of little kids, there's almost always one kid who's really cute, and is everyone's favorite?

Yeah. That was me.

"Cool & Spicy" Hinamori Amu came later. Back then, I was just "cute little Amu-chan."

But it didn't matter to me.

All I wanted as a child was my parents' attention.

But they were always working.

My mother was always at the office, working on her "newest lead"…they never went very far.

My father was still discovering exactly what he wanted to take pictures of, and was hopping around different businesses—all of which kept him pretty busy.

I was taken care of by my cousin Shu.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Shu, but after years of waking up to my parents gone off to work, and falling asleep before they got home…it got kind of old.

I wanted _attention_. From my _parents_.

You also know those kids who always seek attention everywhere they go?

Yeah. That was me, too.

It toned down a little as I got older, but not by much.

I was taken care of by my cousin Shu until I was seven years old.

By then, I had six (or maybe seven) really good friends.

There was Nadeshiko Fujisaki, my very _best _friend (as much as someone can be at that age, at least). And Nagihiko, her twin brother, Soma Kukai, who was a year older, Yuiki Yaya, who was a bit of a crybaby, and Hotori Tadase, who was constantly telling everyone he was going to rule the world when he grew up.

And, of course, Tsukiyomi Utau (who I was constantly fighting with) and Ikuto (who was really quiet).

Tsukiyomi Utau was a lot like me and would often steal what I was going to say. It happened vice versa, too, and it annoyed the hell out of both of us. So we were constantly fighting.

I didn't see Tsukiyomi Ikuto that much, 'cause he took off to who-knows-where soon after I met him, but, from what I could gather, he was annoying. He liked to bug me—and I didn't like it. Sure, it got me attention (and for that I _sort of_ liked it), but I was always embarrassed afterwards.

And then the disaster happened.

My mom got pregnant.

To me, it was the worst thing in the world, because not only was I getting a little sibling who would be getting _my _attention, but we were _moving_.

It was unthinkable.

Atrocious.

_Disastrous_.

I threw a fit. Literally.

And it was _big_.

It was _huge_.

A _whopper_ of a tantrum, let me tell you.

I screamed, and cried, and begged, but it didn't help.

"We already have our plans set," my parents told me.

"It's too late," they said.

"We're already half-moved," my dad joked, as if it was funny.

It wasn't. At all.

When it was time to say goodbye, I cried. A lot.

We drove day and night for two days.

On the second night, I prayed.

_Give me the power to do whatever I want_, I wished to myself. _The power to be free._

And I got it.

The next morning, I awoke to an egg in my lap. **(A/N Don't worry, she'll still have Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia…sorry if this seems like I'm making her a Mary Sue. I'm not.)**

It was pink. I smiled at that. I loved pink.

It had a light pink shell, with dark pink—almost maroon—kitty cats around and around the middle.

As a child of seven, I was a _little _weird-ed out (okay, a lot), but I got over it.

When we got to the house, I easily picked out my room (as my parents chose for me), easily set my stuff up (queue: the moving people), and not-so-easily settled into my new life.

I was mad. Still.

Who wouldn't be?

I mean, _finally_, my parents don't have work 24/7, but they're constantly ignoring me. Looking up baby names or something.

I'm _finally_ without a babysitter, but now I'm bored.

I _finally_ have a roomy house that is nice and spacious (compared to my old apartment home), but I have no friends to share it with.

I. was. _MAD_.

Who was this little sibling that thought they could just sweep in and make my life fall apart?

That thought they owned that right?

I sure as _hell_ (not that I said 'hell' back then) didn't know, but I knew right there and then: I was going to hate them. **(A/N Don't worry! She won't REALLY hate Ami! She just thinks she does now)**

It was one night after I had another tantrum **(A/N She's not THAT bad of a child, but she's pretty angry and upset right now…hehe)**, that I ran out the door of the house to the night outside.

I know my parents were yelling after me, worried, but at that moment, I just kept running.

I found myself at a park and I sat on a bench there.

Probably not too smart.

A cute, _pretty_, little seven-year-old girl by herself.

On a bench.

At eleven o' clock at night.

But I wasn't really thinking too much right then.

"Why can't I chose for _myself?_" I whispered.

"Why can't I be free?"

"Why won't anyone pay attention to me? I want someone who will be with me. Always. And pay attention to _me_."

It was then that my egg made itself noticed.

I had almost completely forgotten about it.

I had kept it in my pocket every day since I had found it. I even kept it warm with a little piece of scrap fabric I had found. And a little bit of magazine that I had ripped when I got mad at my mother (for being at work so often).

But there it was. _Floating_.

I kind of freaked out again.

My. Egg. Was. _Floating_.

Frickin' _floating_.

Kind of scary.

But then…it cracked.

And, with a pop, out came a…

…_cat_.

It was a pink cat.

A pink. _Cat_.

She was pretty cute, I gave her that, at least.

She had short, pink hair that was pretty mussed up, pink furry ears, along with matching-colored paws for hands and feet. She had on a magenta mini-skirt, a light pink tank top a couple shades lighter than her hair, and a small necklace that was also magenta. Her eyes were honey-gold (a lot like mine) and her tail was the same pink as her hair.

"Hello Amu-chan," she said.

I blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

And screamed.

Loud.

Like, _really_ loud.

"Y-y-you talked!" I got out.

Now, at that age, I wasn't really one to stutter. At all.

I did it once or twice when Ikuto was around, but other than that, I was stutter-free. Which I was fine with.

Now, the pink cat thing-y. She was _rude_.

She took one look at me, up and down (elevator eyes!), said (rather snottily), "I can see I have a lot of work to do," and started floating (floating!) away.

It took me awhile after that to get her name, and what she was, out of her.

"I'm Keiko," she said. "Your would-be self. The part of you that wants to be able to gather attention, be able to be rude to others—'cause you're too kind to them now, you goody-two-shoes, and be free to do what you want."

We had a lot of fights after that. 'Cause we did _not _get along.

My parents thought I was going through that "imaginary friend" stage, but I didn't really care right then 'cause I was too busy yelling at Keiko.

It was only later that the indignation set in and I did a thorough yelling at _them_ for calling me "a little kid" that was "going through a stage", while Keiko sat by nodding her head and pitching in every once and awhile (even if they couldn't see her).

But slowly, I started to change. And that was how "cool and spicy" Hinamori Amu was born.

Because I had moved at the beginning of summer, as I began to change, it was during the summer and once I hit school (after a little while of homeschooling—which sucked), I was already into my "cool" persona.

And then…the brat was born.

My little sister.

The attention hog.

The parent stealer.

Ami.

Who _stole the first two letters of my name_.

And _yes_, it mattered.

Even if Keiko was laughing at me for flipping out over it, it _so_ mattered.

She was stealing _everything_ from me!

But I couldn't hate her.

I wanted to.

_Really badly_, but I couldn't.

Sure, I hated her for _being born_, and stealing my attention, and taking away my parents, but I didn't hate _her_.

She was too cute for that.

I could tell she was going to be a lot like me when she grew up—at least until she hit age seven. Then, she would go on a different path ('cause I had Keiko and she didn't).

Except her life was better.

She had _my _parents.

She had _my _humor.

She had _my _looks.

She had everything I had, and more.

I envied her.

So much.

But I didn't hate her.

Still.

Well, maybe a little.

And that—exactly there—was what Easter hooked their claws into.

I was walking in the park one day, behind my parents.

I'm sure I must have looked like a sight.

There my parents were, in their own happy little world, with Ami being cooed over, and I was trooping along behind them, pouting.

I had my pouty face, pouty eyes, and pouty mouth, fake tears and all, and I was being _ignored_. Of course. And there Keiko was. On my head. Sleeping.

I must have been an easy target for Easter. At such a young age, my morals were still developing, and so was my resentment.

A little push here and a tweak there, and I would be the perfect Easter employee.

My parents sat down on a bench.

"Go play," they said, hardly glancing up at me.

That, of course, made me mad.

So, stomping away, I found some shade under a tree.

It was probably an hour later, when I was just dozing off after ranting to Keiko (who was hardly listening) about how unfair my life was, that I was approached by a young woman.

She was pretty. She had long dark brown hair, beautiful violet eyes, and I could tell her sense of style was up-to-date, even at that age. She wore long, black skinny jeans, black two inch-high heels, a low-cut dark purple t-shirt with small ruffles at the sleeves, and bug sunglasses perched on her head. A few bracelets and a necklace here and there, and her outfit was complete.

"Hello," she said charmingly. "You look lonely."

I didn't say anything, but I did look up at her in awe.

She smiled—showing dimples. "I saw what your parents did to you."

"What did they do?" I asked, looking away with a pout.

"How they ignored you. They only looked at your little sister, didn't they?" She asked rhetorically.

Keiko was just waking up, and she blinked up at the lady warily.

"Don't trust her, Amu-chan," she whispered, "she's playing with your emotions."

"Ah," the purple-eyed lady said, "your guardian character is smart."

"You can see her?" I asked nervously.

"Of course!" the woman said brightly. "I used to have one myself! But…well. You know. Things happen."

I think I just said, "Oh," kind of stupidly.

"I'm sorry," the lady said. "I don't think I introduced myself. My name's Takahashi Aiko. "

"Oh," I said again. "My name is Hinamori Amu. Nice to meet you, Takahashi-san."

"Call me Aiko-chan," Aiko smiled.

"Oh," I said for the third time. "Okay. Nice to meet you, Aiko-chan."

"There," Aiko said. "May I call you Amu-chan?"

"That's fine."

"So—who's this?" Aiko asked, gesturing to Keiko.

"You can ask me yourself!" Keiko glared.

"Of course. Silly of me. Who are you?" Aiko asked kindly.

Keiko just sniffed and turned away angrily.

"That's Keiko," I told her.

"Cute name for a cute cat," Aiko said, laughing slightly.

Keiko sniffed again, unhappy with this development.

"Now, Amu-chan," Aiko started. "Do you have any talents?"

"Well…" I started. "I can read really fast."

Aiko laughed. "Not that kind of talent. Can you act, or sing? Or even dance?"

"I'm okay at singing, I think."

In truth, I hadn't sang much, but when I had, I had always been praised for it.

"Great!" Aiko said. "Do you think you could show me?"

"How?" I asked.

"Why don't you sing a song for me?"

A few minutes later, after I sang a part of a lullaby for Aiko, I had a job.

Yes. A job. At age seven—almost eight.

Aiko worked for Easter.

Yes, Easter.

At that age, I had no clue what I was getting into.

Signing the contract for Easter was easy at age eight.

I had no idea that signing that contract would create huge problems for me when I got older.

So I got singing lessons. And dance lessons.

And language, and math, and art (though I wasn't very good), and lots of other subjects.

I became homeschooled—only this time, it was fun.

At age eight, I had no idea what X eggs were.

I had no idea that using my singing to extract them was wrong.

Or should be wrong.

I was happy.

I had one friend, too, even.

Sure, I had Keiko, but I also had my friend Lulu.

Lulu was good at almost everything.

She had wonderful parents—who always paid attention to her (and me!)—and a cute guardian character named Nana.

She wanted to be perfect in life, and I went along with it.

I learned from her to try at everything, to never give up, to live everything as a competition, and to always strive to be at the top in life.

It was actually Lulu, I think, that caused me to get my other four guardian characters.

Because there was four things especially that I could never _truly _learn without better help.

I just wasn't good enough.

I was _good_ at sports, but I wasn't great.

I was _okay_ at drawing, but I wasn't fantastic.

I was _awful_ at cooking, and I definitely wasn't a professional chef.

I was pretty good at making myself shine and achieving my goals and trying really hard to get there, but sometimes, I would hesitate.

That was why I got Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia.

I got Ran, Miki, and Su first.

Ran's egg was decorated with pink hearts, Miki's with blue spades, and Su's with green clovers.

It was actually kind of funny to watch Keiko's reaction when she saw them.

She was _not happy_.

She was a lot like me in the sense that she did _not want to share_.

I was _her_ bearer (she said), and she didn't want anyone else stealing me.

When Ran hatched, she told her she was an "annoying, too-cheerful, too-obnoxious, goody-two-shoes". Ran laughed and cheered, "Funny Keiko! Funny Keiko! Rude, rude, rude!"

Keiko didn't like that. She didn't like her.

Ran was pretty cute, though. Not as cute as Keiko, but still. She had pink hair, a pink visor, a pink cheerleader's outfit with a short skirt, cute pink pom-poms, a heart hairclip, and a constantly bright and happy expression. She was the side of me that longed to be good at sports, happy, optimistic, and confident.

When Miki hatched second, Keiko told her that her hair was weird and she should just go die in a hole somewhere before she ruined everything for me.

Keiko later apologized (in her own way—Keiko doesn't really apologize), because Miki didn't fight back and instead ignored her by talking to me. The fact that she talked to me first was a little annoying Keiko said later, but it was better than nothing.

At least I knew Miki had Keiko's approval.

Miki also looked pretty good, despite the fact that Keiko had told her that her hair was weird. Her hair _was_ cut a little weird, but that was made up for by the hat that she wore. If she didn't have that hair cut, her hat would look a little weird. She also wore dark blue shorts and a light blue shirt. She carried a small blue bag with art supplies inside and a notepad that she was almost always drawing on. Miki was the side of me that wished to be cool, artistic, and disobedient.

When Su hatched, Keiko told her that she hated "her annoyingly high-pitched voice" and her dress that was "so frilly it's slutty". Su blinked once, and burst out crying.

Keiko smirked, turned to me, and said, "I like her the best."

Su was pretty cute, too. Not only because of her looks, but her personality too. She was probably even cuter than Keiko, but I wasn't going to tell Keiko that. Su wore a dark green dress with an apron-like white frilly dress overtop (kind of like a waitress's, but poofier), cute high-heel shoes **(A/N I think that's what they are)**, and a small white hat with a clover attached. Su was my desire to be good at home economics, and to be kinder (quite the opposite of Keiko).

All three of them hatched when I was eleven years old.

When I was thirteen, I got my fourth, gold egg with diamonds painting the surface.

I think I got Diamond (Dia for short) because my radiance was showing a lot when I was thirteen. I was just learning to sing really well—I had sung pretty well before, but all of us (meaning my characters, Aiko, and me) knew I would be better when I got older.

I soon learned that Dia wasn't someone to mess with.

When Dia hatched and Keiko told her that she was too bright and to tone it down a little 'cause it hurt her eyes, Dia tied her up with string (where she got it from—I have no clue). I found Dia was quiet, but straightforward and dead scary when she was mad.

I think I laughed when Dia tied Keiko up.

Keiko was mad for a week afterwards.

Dia got pretty mad at me, too, a half-year after she hatched. I gave up on something (I don't remember what it was) in the middle of it, and Dia turned herself into an X egg.

Aiko was happy.

"More X eggs!" she told me (I still didn't quite understand the importance of these things—even if Keiko and the rest of my characters had tried to explain it to me).

But, eventually, Dia turned back.

She turned back every once in a while to spite and remind me, but other than that, Dia and I got along pretty well.

Dia was very pretty. As a normal guardian character, she had long ginger hair and long bangs that ended at the bottom of her face, a white head band with a gold diamond on it, a yellow mini-skirt and belly shirt, and long white knee-high socks. As an X Character, she had long blonde hair swept back into one large ponytail, a gold headband with a black diamond covered by a white X on it, dark purple shoes, a dark purple dress with yellow diamond buttons, and elbow-length gloves. Dia was my desire to be an idol, but she also held my radiance. She held that spark within me that glowed with determination and steadfast-ed-ness.

When I was fourteen, I finally discovered what an X egg truly was. I really had known all along what it was, but I had been trying to deny the truth.

I didn't _want_ to steal people's dreams.

But I was.

And I couldn't get out of it.

My contract with Easter made sure of that.

I think Aiko knew of the indecision I was going through, and she backed off for awhile, but the age where I could be a famous star was approaching, and she couldn't hold off for too long.

Keiko helped me through it—made me look at the bright side of things.

But I still couldn't understand.

How could someone do those things?

I mean, I know I did, but how could someone kill someone else's dreams while knowing what the consequences of it would be?

Eventually, it was Dia that pulled me through it.

Dia had been mad at me. She said I wasn't trying hard enough, I wasn't getting back up again, I wasn't letting it go.

Dia turned into an X egg.

She asked me one day, "Does it really matter?"

I got mad at her.

Of course it mattered!

I was taking people's heart's eggs, their dreams, their futures, and turning them over to people who don't give a damn about any of them.

Then she said something that made me pause.

"They're giving them up to you," she whispered. "Have you ever noticed that when you sing, not _all_ of the people you sing to let their eggs be stolen? That's because some of them are weak—they wouldn't go anywhere with their dreams anyways. They'd crush their own dreams themselves, later on. They're letting you take them, because, in the end, you won—you accomplished your dream—and they lost, because they won't ever take hold of theirs. You _know_ that life is a competition, Amu. You're simply competing with them, and winning. _You're_ the one making decisions in your life, for once."

She was right.

Hadn't I been told before to always win?

Everything was a competition.

In life, you needed to compete for the top.

You needed to try—and try hard.

You needed to have determination and strength—and the ability.

Not everyone had it.

Those heart's eggs I stole, they were from people who didn't.

How could anyone give up so easily?

How could they let themselves lose?

Just like that?

They were weak.

Even at home, I have to fight.

I fight every day. With myself, with my friends, my bosses, and my family.

I fight for balance within myself, I fight over petty things with my friends, I fight to become bigger in life with my bosses, and I fight for attention with my family.

Everything is a competition—so why lose before you've even started?

Why forfeit?

I didn't know—but it didn't matter.

In the end, it was they that were _giving_ me their eggs. I wasn't _taking_ them or stealing them at all.

They were losing and I was winning, for once in my life.

And it felt good.

This was one thing that I could win.

While I may not win with anything else, especially within my family, here I could.

It was fine.

Because they were losing.

And I was _winning_.

Dia stayed an X egg and didn't turn back, I think mostly from my own desire for her to stay that way, 'cause Ran, Miki, and Su didn't agree with my mindset on the issue of the X eggs.

When I was almost fifteen, my parents told me we were moving again.

Yes.

Moving.

Again.

Keiko and I were outraged (not that my parents could see Keiko's face).

Ran, Miki, and Su were excited (which wasn't helping my mood), while Dia didn't really do much other than sit there and take it (which I was grateful for).

I suppose it wasn't so bad, seeing as Lulu had already moved away (to France) nearly a year ago, so I had no friends to miss, but it was still shocking.

"What about my singing career?" I asked my parents, angrily.

"Well," my mother answered, "you see, we're moving back to where we used to live. And it'll be great, because that's where the heart of Easter lies! We'll get you straight on track with you singing career, and you won't have to worry, 'cause we already talked to Aiko—and she's moving with us!"

I guess that was okay. At least I wasn't leaving Aiko.

But still.

Moving.

Again.

Ugh.

I know I started to wonder why Aiko was moving with me, but then I realized that this would be a big step up from her job here. I knew I was an important part of Easter's main corporation plan and moving to the center of it all would not only make me a bigger star, but make Aiko more popularized. It was perfect for her.

And that was Aiko for you. Selfish all the way.

And then I wondered.

Would my friends still be there? What school would I be going to? Where—exactly—would we be living?

I remember that, when Ami was told later after she got home from school, she threw a tantrum.

I remember laughing at her up in my room with my guardian characters because that was _exactly_ what I had done.

It was pretty funny.

And then I realized.

I was moving back.

I.

Was.

Moving.

Back.


	2. Chapter 1

**Well, here's the new chapter. It sure took me awhile, huh? Sorry :)**

**I think I said that I would make the sentence structure less choppy in the actual chapters, but I lied. I actually like writing with this kind of style—it's more fun. Haha. If you want details, however, feel free to check out my other stories.**

Keiko was laughing like a maniac again. "This will be fun!" she sang, floating and dancing around my head.

Dia was humming softly, giggling every so often, and Ran, Miki, and Su were frowning slightly.

I was leaning against a tree in the park I used to visit as a child when I lived here.

Yes, we had already moved. It took us four days.

The breeze was ruffling my hair, causing it to tickle my face. I tugged it impatiently backwards and out of my way.

I shifted.

I scratched my shoulder.

I closed my eyes for a doze, but couldn't go to sleep.

I huffed. "There's nothing to do around here," I complained.

"You could always disobey Easter and go see if your old friends live where they used to," Keiko suggested.

I sighed.

Easter.

_Flashback_

_I stood, shifting impatiently from foot to foot, beside Aiko outside the Director's office, waiting to be called in._

_My guardian characters were floating around my head. Keiko and Dia were excited, while Ran, Miki, and Su were nervous and scared._

"_Come in," finally came the voice from inside the room._

_When I walked in, the room was dimly lit and the director had his chair faced away from us, with only his head showing over the top of it. It was so much like one of those scary movies that I used to watch with Lulu that I nearly giggled, but I restrained myself in time._

"_I hear that you hold the same ability as Hoshina Utau," the director started._

_I didn't say anything and instead stared at Aiko confusedly as she answered for me. "That's true," she said, "except, from what I've seen and heard, Amu has more control over who she extracts eggs from, and can extract more X eggs when she's Chara Changed with Dia, than Hoshina Utau ever does with her Charas."_

"_Is that so?" the director asked, swiveling his chair around with eyebrows raised._

_I decided then and there, that the director was scary._

_At the moment, he wore a dark gray—almost black—suit and a similarly colored tie. He had thinning dark brown hair, dark eyes, and many stress lines on his forehead. Judging by the amount of hair on his forehead, I was guessing he was pretty old._

_Not to mention cheesy. I mean, who says, "Is that so?" nowadays? Actually, who says "nowadays"? Geez…wait, no one says that either. God, I was going crazy._

_He studied me for a second and then turned to Aiko and said, "From my understanding, she sings?"_

"_Yes, sir," Aiko said demurely, her eyes on the floor._

_The Director turned back to me and said, "We'll have you release a single and see how it goes from there. If you're popular enough, you'll be hired in a manner similar to Hoshina Utau's. If it doesn't go well, we'll find another position for you in Easter. Maybe."_

_I hid a smile, and said, "Yes, sir."_

"_Dismissed," the Director said, glancing down to some paperwork on his desk, obviously preparing to start working on it._

_As I turned to go, the Director looked back up and said, "Actually, Aiko, please give me a moment with Amu."_

_Aiko nodded, looked at me nervously, and exited through the door, shutting it softly behind her._

"_What is it, sir?" I asked, covering up my nervousness._

"_You have a little sister, yes?" The Director said, seemingly out of nowhere._

"_Yes, sir."_

"_Is she dear to you?" The Director's eyes glinted._

"_Very much, sir."_

"_It would be…regretful, if something were to happen to her, yes?" Something about the way he said it made me wary._

"_Tragic, sir," I said stiffly._

"_Well, then. You know of the Embryo?"_

"_Yes, sir."_

"_If you fail to carry out your orders, or use the Embryo to your own gain, or don't bring the Embryo to Easter, you may just find your sister mysteriously…injured. Possibly worse. Do you understand?" the Director said. He stared me straight in the eyes._

"_I understand perfectly, sir."_

"_Good. You are dismissed."_

_I exited, not looking back. Outside, I found Aiko looking at me, worry in her eyes. 'Are you okay?' her eyes and body language asked me, though she didn't say it out loud (_Aiko_ would _never_ stoop so low)._

"_I'm fine, Aiko," I said._

_If she noticed that my voice shook, she didn't say anything._

_End Flashback_

I was scheduled to record my first song tomorrow, if everything went according to plan.

I was decidedly nervous.

I sighed again.

There was no harm in checking out my new school, right?

Standing up and shoving my hands in my pockets, I began walking out of the park.

"Aaah! Amu-chan, where are we going?" Ran asked, frantically trying to catch up with Su and Miki. Dia and Keiko were already beside me.

I didn't answer, but continued walking.

It was very nostalgic, looking at everything as I passed.

There was the ice cream shop my friends and I used to go to when we were younger. I could practically _hear_ the giggles and screams as we all raced to the ice cream shop, clutching the money our parents had given us, trying to get in line first.

_Flashback_

"_Ikuto!" I shrieked. "You _licked_ my ice cream!"_

_Utau glared at me from over Ikuto's shoulder, as if it was my fault._

"_Why did you do that?" I demanded, placing my hand that wasn't holding my ice cream on my hip._

_He shrugged. "I like chocolate," he said._

_Utau glared even harder, and I was having a hard time not flinching._

_Ikuto smirked, looking at me again. "Strawberries, too."_

_My head cocked to the side. _What?

_Before I could ask what he meant, Ikuto walked away._

_Utau raced after him ("Ikuto, waaaaiiit!")._

_End Flashback_

And there was the pet shop that Nadeshiko and I loved so much.

_Flashback_

"_Awww, it's so _cute!_" I giggled._

"_I know! I just want to take it home!" Nadeshiko said._

"_It's just a puppy," Nagihiko said from behind us._

_Nadeshiko and I whirled around, hands on our hips. "It's not _just_ a puppy, Nagi!" we said in unison, though I added 'chan' onto the end of his name._

"_It's a cute—" I started._

"—_adorable—" Nadeshiko continued._

"—_loving—"_

"—_kind of—"_

"_Puppy!" we finished, turning back around to press our hands up against the glass again, cooing at the cute animal in the window._

"_Sometimes, I wonder who's really twins with who around here…" we heard from behind us._

_End Flashback_

I gasped, and almost cried when I saw the "to be demolished" sign in front of the amusement park.

_Flashback_

"_Please, please, _please, _Ikuto!" I begged, tugging on his hand._

"_No."_

"Please!_"_

"_No."_

"_Why not?"_

"_What do I get out of it?"_

"_Well…um, you get to have fun with me!"_

_Ikuto turned his head away. "No."_

"_Umm…I'll do whatever you want for the rest of the day!" I improvised._

_Ikuto smirked. "_Anything?_"_

"_Y-y-yeah."_

"_I'll do it," he said._

"_Yay!" I shouted, pulling him by his hand to go stand in line for the Tea Cup ride._

_End Flashback_

Damn, later on I sure did regret offering to do whatever he wanted. After that day, I never made another deal like that with him.

As I turned onto the street that I knew my new school was located on, I saw the house Yaya used to live in, before she moved.

_Flashback_

"_Waaaaah!" Yaya wailed from her seat on the ground._

"_Shh! Yaya, don't cry!" Kukai said frantically from above her, waving his arms around._

_If there was one thing everyone knew that Kukai hated, it was crying girls._

"_But I'm soooaaaaked!" she shrieked, in distress._

"_Yaya," Tadase said from beside me, smiling brightly. "Can't you just go inside and change?"_

_Yaya sniffed. "Well, yeah…but that's so _hard_," she whined._

"_But isn't it worse to be out here, all wet?" he asked._

"_I guess," Yaya muttered sullenly. "I'll be right back." She walked inside._

_As soon as the door closed behind her, Kukai and Tadase both turned to me._

"_What?" I asked innocently._

"_We know it was you, Amu-chan," Kukai said._

"_Where's the proof?" I asked._

"Amu-san,"_ Tadase said, a rare edge to his voice._

_I threw my hands up defensively. "I wasn't aiming for her, though! The bucket was _supposed_ to drop on Kukai." I glared at said boy, and scowled. "But then _someone_"—queue threatening glare in Kukai's direction—"moved."_

"_Amu-san," Tadase started. Then he sighed and just shook his head._

"_Well…though I'm not happy it was aimed at me," Kukai started slowly, "that was a pretty well-set up prank!"_

"_I know, right?" I said excitedly, laughing._

"_You two are impossible," Tadase sighed._

_End Flashback_

And there it was: my new school. Seiyo School. Below the sign, it said, "Elementary, Middle, and High School".

It was very pretty. I could give the school that, at least.

From what I heard, there was also a planetarium. That could be fun.

Not to mention, Tadase's uncle, Tsukasa, was the superintendent. _I wonder if he still remembers me…?_

"Eh-hem," someone coughed from my left.

I looked over and saw…nothing?

"Eh-hem," I heard again.

I looked down. _Oh_, I thought. _No wonder I couldn't see her—she's super short._

And she _was_ short. She was even shorter than I was at thirteen. But she was cute—I just wanted to give her a hug. I wish I had that long blonde hair, too.

"Yes?" I said.

"Are you stupid? You're just standing there staring." Her voice was childlike and quiet.

I blinked. Well, there goes wanting to hug her. But I quirked a smile.

"No, I'm just observing," I said.

A pause. "Why?"

Before I could answer, a giggle came from behind the girl, and, to my surprise, a Shugo Chara popped out from behind her head. "Be nicer…maybe she could be your friend!"

"Because…" I said slowly. "I'm going to go to this school."

"Oh," the girl said.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

She looked away. "I'm waiting for my parents."

"Who's that?" I asked, pointing to her Chara. "And what's your name?"

She ignored my questions and instead asked, "You can see her?"

"Of course," I smiled, "I have Charas, too." My Charas, who had been inside their little red box-purse that Lulu gave me, immediately popped out, excited to meet someone else with a Chara.

I could tell the girl was surprised. "You have five Charas?"

"Is that unusual?"

The girl looked away. "I'm Rima," she said. "And this is KusuKusu."

I smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you! I'm Amu, and this is Keiko, Dia, Miki, Ran, and Su." I pointed out my Charas respectively, not at all expecting her to remember all their names.

Rima pouted slightly, looking away again.

"Say…" I said. "Do you know anyone named Nadeshiko?"

Rima looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Maybe," she said.

"How about Tadase, or Nagihiko? Or Kukai, even? Yaya?"

"Maybe."

My eyebrow twitched.

"Could you tell me?"

"Why should I?"

My eyebrow twitched again.

"Because," I said through gritted teeth, "I would like to know."

"What's in it for me?"

Oddly enough, this girl was reminding me of Ikuto a little bit. "I'll buy you candy?"

"Not good enough," Rima said cutely.

"What do you want, then?" Then I spotted her Chara. Hmm…maybe something to do with jokes?

"I don't want anything right now," Rima said. "Except, maybe, for you to shut up and go away."

But I didn't know anything about jokes or gags or anything. Except for the mangas.

"I was here first!" I was getting flustered.

What if she didn't like manga, though? Might as well take a chance, I suppose.

"No," Rima said, "you weren't. I was—you just weren't paying attention."

"You know that new gag manga coming out?" I asked Rima, going into a whole nother direction.

She didn't answer, but I could tell I had her interest.

"I have the first book, and I'm done with it. I could give it to you, if you answered my questions," I said.

I wasn't even interested in the answers anymore; I just wanted to see if she really _was_ interested in gag mangas and such.

"That might be agreeable," the girl in front of me said.

_Gotcha_, I thought.

"M'kay, sooo…what are the answers?" I asked.

"How do I know you actually have the book?" Rima asked.

"You don't," I said, smiling.

"Whatever," Rima said. "My mom is here," she pointed to a car coming down the street. "I have to go. But yes, I do know those people. They go to this school."

And then she got into the car that had parked in front of us and was driven away.

I, however, was in shock. They went to this school?

A smile slowly spread across my face. Distantly I heard Miki whisper, "Amu has a scary smile on her face…"

But all I could wonder was: who else would I be seeing around, then?


End file.
